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Siege of Bhorash
Prelude Volantis, Meereen, and Yunkai signed into an agreement of mutual cooperation and nonaggression, bound by their shared ancestry as Valyrian kinsmen. Among the agreed upon terms included the clearing of pirate haven that had sprung up within the ruined Ghiscari city of Bhorash. Shortly after the election of Visenya Maegyr the Triarchy agreed to martial a large host, in part to make good on their word, but also to combat the looming threat of New Ghis. When the Volantene host drew itself upon the city an ultimatum was dispatched to the corsairs within. The message was simple; they had already lost, and their options were to surrender and be treated in kindness for it, or stand and die fighting. No reply was issued, though the answer was already known. The Battle The city's ruins had been well scouted for weaknesses, there were damaged portions of the walls and destroyed gatehouses along all three faces not flush with the sea. The men of the Windblown were deployed to ride around the city and encamp at the eastern gates, preventing escape overland. The men of Mantarys then marched to the northern face of the city under support from Volantis' Hrakkar light cavalry. The main Volantene force remained deployed along the western face of the city awaiting their quarry to be driven to them. The men of the Windblown moved in first, driving hard into the city from the north. No gates stood to slow the charged of their mounted soldiers, and they went about cutting their way through streets and houses alike with steel and skill. They downed three men for every one of their own as they drove the corsairs westward away from the city walls. Addario leads his men from the thick of the fighting, directing his serjeants and inspiring them with his great leadership. Meanwhile, to the north, Bloodthirster Gaergorus Gargantes leads his Mantaryan heavy shock troops into the city's northern regions. They give no quarter as they wholesale butcher anything between them and the city center. Fighting is brutal house to house combat, which favors the Mantaryans' great individual size. Many atrocities are committed by the Mantaryan troops, who kill, loot, and rape without distinction or restraint. Nonetheless the end goal is the same, as pirate forces are driven back as much out of fear as they are out of defeat. The two forces eventually unite towards the center of the city, driving the surviving corsairs western in a mass retreat. The trap is sealed, and the pirates are wedged between the main host and the secondary forces within the city. The surviving pirates quickly surrender en masse, with half their number taken as captive. Aftermath With the city ruins firmly under Volantene control and the main pirate lords captured or killed the day was won. Almost 1,500 men had surrendered at the end of the battle, valuing their lives above any amount of gold or gems. Half that number had been killed outright or heavily wounded from the fighting. On Maegyr's command the ruined city was looted, the Triarch's men freely plundering the corsair treasures, raiding food stores, and raping the hundreds of women that were in service to the corsairs. The Windblown and Mantaryans were given the lion's share of the spoils, looting as much gold and gems from the caches as they could carry. Men happily filled their pockets with corsair riches and took for them armor and weapons looted from armories or stripped from the defeated soldiers. After the battle the wounded were rounded up wholesale, and the injured or dying men were bound together around great pyres of timber soaked in oil. Their bodies were immolated in offering to R'hllor, as the Red God demanded his due. In commemoration of the battle hard fought but easily won. The flames from the pyres would illuminate the cityscape during the night of the sack. In addition the captured men and women were looked through, and the strongest, tallest, fairest, or healthiest were taken as slaves. Those who did not fit the qualifications of the inspection were deemed unworthy to be sold at auction, unnecessary mouths to feed. A second set of great pyres to R'hllor were constructed, and four out of five of the Volantene prisoners of war were immolated in offering. Well over a thousand burned on the second night, their screams echoing for miles over the barren lands. The remaining three hundred captives deemed appropriate to sell were then marched westward back to Mantarys, along with an escort force of two hundred loyal men. Before the Volantene host departed the charred bones of the dead were heaped in the city center. No soldiers were left to garrison the ruin, it proved to vulnerable to further attacks. Instead the blackened bones and spiked skulls were left as a warning as to the fate of anyone foolish enough to try and once again claim the city as their own. External Links *Volantis arrives at Bhorash *Volantis conquers Bhorash *Windblown loots Bhorash Category:Battles Category:Slaver's Bay